How about adding a bit of code to allow the calendar to extend up into real time? Calendars repeat in cycles, so it should be relatively easy to set it so that the clock calendar is set to a year whose calendar matches the current one, then add a number to the output to match the actual year before display.

That's one thing that does drive me nuts about programs on the c128 that use calendar information - they all stop at 1999.

Quote from: airship on April 26, 2008, 01:02 AM
How about adding a bit of code to allow the calendar to extend up into real time? Calendars repeat in cycles, so it should be relatively easy to set it so that the clock calendar is set to a year whose calendar matches the current one, then add a number to the output to match the actual year before display.

That's one thing that does drive me nuts about programs on the c128 that use calendar information - they all stop at 1999.

Not sure I understand your request.  CC128 can maintain any date from 1753 to 9999, with proper leap year compensation throughout that range.

Sorry. I just thought there was some 1999 limit because most of the software written for the C128 (or C64, for that matter) stops there.

Once again, my ignorance manifests itself publicly, and I suffer a -10 hit to my ego.

Quote from: BigDumbDinosaur on April 26, 2008, 02:14 AMCC128 can maintain any date from 1753 to 9999, with proper leap year compensation throughout that range.

You mean this program isn't Y10K compliant?! 

Airship, the issue you speak of is purely a problem of the programmers' choice to use 2 digits for the year in their code rather than 4 digits.  As I'm sure pretty much everyone remembers, this was a big issue prior to the year 2000, requiring patches to be written for existing programs to run correctly after 1999.  Of course, very few patches were ever written for Commodore programs.

-Andrew

Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on April 26, 2008, 10:08 AM

Quote from: BigDumbDinosaur on April 26, 2008, 02:14 AMCC128 can maintain any date from 1753 to 9999, with proper leap year compensation throughout that range.

You mean this program isn't Y10K compliant?! 

Airship, the issue you speak of is purely a problem of the programmers' choice to use 2 digits for the year in their code rather than 4 digits.  As I'm sure pretty much everyone remembers, this was a big issue prior to the year 2000, requiring patches to be written for existing programs to run correctly after 1999.  Of course, very few patches were ever written for Commodore programs.

-Andrew

Even back in the late 1970s, we already were talking about the impending Y2K problem.  The assumption was that by the time 2000 rolled around all the old software would be in the scrap heap.  I was very busy in 1999 doing Y2K updates, which proved that assuming can make an ass out of you and me.

Every program I ever wrote for the C-128 was Y2K-compliant, although dates weren't necessarily stored with the full year.  I used the "century-splitting" technique to compute the high order part of the year.  As for Y10K, I've got another 7000 or so years to work out the changes.  If you're still around by then I'll hire you as my tester.  <Grin>

Quote from: BigDumbDinosaur on April 26, 2008, 12:00 PMAs for Y10K, I've got another 7000 or so years to work out the changes.  If you're still around by then I'll hire you as my tester.  <Grin>

Okay... It's a deal!   

-Andrew

Problem is, by then you'll be making $10,000,000,000,000,000/hour, but gas will cost $100,000,000,000,000,000/gal.!

Okay!  The beta version of Clock-Calendar 128 is ready for testing.  I need some volunteers who have good powers of observation, can do some BASIC programming, and are able to read and understand an instruction manual.  Said volunteers will need a real C-128, preferable one with 64K of video RAM, as part of the testing involves the interfacing of CC128 with the 80 column display manager.

How about that...  I meet all of those criteria! 

I volunteer! 

-Andrew

Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on April 30, 2008, 05:57 PM
How about that...  I meet all of those criteria! 

I volunteer! 

-Andrew

Software is on the way to you via E-mail.

To those who are wondering about the status of this project, I'm still waiting for test results.

This project is not DOA.  My health has gone to pot in the last month and I've been loaded up with steroids in an attempt to keep me in one piece.  Steroids, among other things, affect the joints and motor skills, which is a technical way of saying that I can't type very well right now.  I hope to get back into the programming swing of things soon.

---

This project is still on the list of things to complete before I croak.  Health issues continue to get in the way.  Eventually, I am told, I'll get back to some semblance of normal and thus I will be able to resume software development.

Glad to see you still posting, BDD. You have too many open-ended projects here to quit on us now!

I'm just glad that all of those grueling hours that I put into testing will not go to waste. 

I'm coming down from the tail end of an aggressive chemo regimen that was a last-ditch attempt to gain control over the ITP.  It seems to have done the trick, although lingering side-effects are dogging me (peripheral neuropathy being the biggie).  I am now in a clinical trial for another drug that works by stimulating the production of platelets to a rate greater than that at which they are being destroyed.  It'll be several months before results—if any—become apparent.  I ain't dead yet!

Meanwhile, some real computer work is demanding my time, so it'll be a little while longer before I can get back into my "open-ended projects." 

BDD, why are you letting the so-called 'real' world interfere with your important Commodore development projects?

I guess that's good news on the chemo and the drug trial. I hope it all works to get you back on track.

As for the neuropathy, I hate to say this, but you get used to it. I hope yours goes away, but I live with it every day and will for the rest of my life. (Typing is a bitch - I've had to disable the Shift and Ctrl keys on the left side of my keyboard  because my pinky was dragging over them all the time.) But it's amazing what you can learn to tolerate when it involves something as important as not dying.

Hang in there, dude.

Hey, BDD, any news on Clock-Calendar development?

I'm starting to think about organizing files on my uIEC and I want to put your 80-column manager in a prominent spot so I can start messing around with it. I'd like to include the CC too, if it's about ready to go.

Thanks for your hard work on both of these projects.

QuoteHey, BDD, any news on Clock-Calendar development?

Not yet.  I'm still not doing too well health-wise.  Been in and out of the hospital and still being pumped full of drugs.  At least I'm still able to sit up once in a while and play with the computer.  Dunno when (or if) I'll get better but I keep hoping all this medical crap is going to turn around for me soon.

I'll letcha know how I progress.

Quote from: BigDumbDinosaur on November 20, 2008, 04:11 AMI'm still not doing too well health-wise.  Been in and out of the hospital and still being pumped full of drugs.  At least I'm still able to sit up once in a while and play with the computer.  Dunno when (or if) I'll get better but I keep hoping all this medical crap is going to turn around for me soon.

Bummer. I'm glad you can at least check in here once in awhile.

Health issues suck. I've spent way too much time in hospitals the past 3-4 years, and it sounds like you have, too. Hang in there. I hope you get better (permanently) soon.

Quote from: airship on November 20, 2008, 05:31 AMBummer. I'm glad you can at least check in here once in awhile.

Health issues suck. I've spent way too much time in hospitals the past 3-4 years, and it sounds like you have, too. Hang in there. I hope you get better (permanently) soon.

Me, too! 

Quote from: BigDumbDinosaur on November 20, 2008, 04:11 AM
Dunno when (or if) I'll get better but I keep hoping all this medical crap is going to turn around for me soon.

When, not if. Stick with the positive thoughts, difficult though it may be at times. It really does help.

I'm still upright with a pulse, CC128 is done and available for downloading!  Also, be sure to grab the new version of the 80 column Display Manager.

Congratulations! Thanks for getting this done. I feel that it's one of the most important development/support packages created for the C128 in recent years.

I'll get it downloaded and installed soon.

I'm currently trying to get both a CF card and an IDE hard drive working simultaneously on my uIEC, and getting the whole works shoehorned into a USB CD-ROM box. It's all there, it's just not working. I've also got two 1581 kits I'm trying to get up and running; they ALMOST work...

Once I've got those hardware issues worked out, it's on to playing with the 80-column manager and Clock-Calendar.

Thanks again, BDD!

P.S. Just because you got these both done doesn't mean you have my permission to croak. I expect lots of other great things from you in the near future.

QuoteCongratulations! Thanks for getting this done. I feel that it's one of the most important development/support packages created for the C128 in recent years.

Dunno about the importance part.  My wife was bugging me to know why I was doing this stuff for "ancient computers that no one uses anymore."  Goes to show what she knows—about computers, anyhow.

QuoteI'll get it downloaded and installed soon.

It'll be interesting to see how well it all works on a real 128.  Only thing I have here is VICE, and the emulation is not perfect.

QuoteP.S. Just because you got these both done doesn't mean you have my permission to croak. I expect lots of other great things from you in the near future.

There are some things I'd like to try that aren't practical to test in an emulator.  Some of those things involve putting that empty ROM socket to use...

Quote from: BigDumbDinosaur on December 02, 2008, 12:04 PMMy wife was bugging me to know why I was doing this stuff for "ancient computers that no one uses anymore."  Goes to show what she knows—about computers, anyhow.

Yeah, an "ancient" computer would be one like the Babbage Engine. 

                 Recovering from my Thanksgiving travels,
                 Robert Bernardo
                 Fresno Commodore User Group
                 http://videocam.net.au/fcug
                 The Other Group of Amigoids
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                 Southern California Commodore/Amiga Network
                 http://www.sccaners.org/